<p>"Call them greedy, call them intimidating, call them the unwelcome elephants in the Snickers factory, but the teenagers who inevitably appear on Halloween doorsteps are grasping for more than a fi****l of sweets.</p>
<p>“When you’re our age, it’s like it’s cool again to go,” explains Anna Karnaze, a 17-year-old junior from Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, who went as a toilet-paper mummy last Halloween and plans to trick-or-treat as a pirate tonight."</p>
<p>This has been a discussion among my son’s friends (14-15 yr olds). My older son stopped at 13 and younger brother is following his lead. He has party plans for tonight anyway. He has several friends, many who are 6ft tall, who will out tonight collecting candy. My view is, while I do think they’re too old, if they come to my door in costume, they’ll get their candy. I do save the better stuff for the younger set though. ;)</p>
<p>When I was a kid, 8th grade was absolutely the oldest anyone went trick or treating, and some stopped earlier. I don’t think mine even went that long. They lost interest by the time they reached junior high. 17 is definitely too old, in my humble opinion.</p>
<p>Call me a sucker for kids of any ages, but I have no issue with older trick-or-treaters! I welcome the tiniest ones to the biggest (and oldest) ones. But then, I <strong><em>LOVE</em></strong> Halloween in general, and I don’t think you’re ever too old to take part! :)</p>
<p>Some of my kids have stopped at 12 or so…others have gone when they were 13. I personally wouldn’t care if they went even later. I don’t think there’s a magic cut off, at least in my mind.</p>
<p>Now if dadofsam showed up at my door, or digmedia, I might have to give 'em a hard time…<em>lol</em></p>
<p>I can’t WAIT to take my 8 and 11 year olds out tonight! My youngest is <em>SO</em> excited!!!</p>
<p>I say 8th grade. The only way I will give candy to the high school kids is if they come fully constumed up and into the event. Otherwise, I turn Scroogish and want to close the door, since I am not simply the dispenser of free candy.</p>
<p>My D has been planning her costume since school started. And we have the requistie tacky decorations too, just the kind that make her really happy.</p>
<p>I’m expecting to see a few 9th graders tonight, but I think that most kids stop after 8th grade.</p>
<p>Of course, there will be a few older teenagers in costume who are acting as escorts for younger kids. I think those teenagers have definitely earned a share of the candy.</p>
<p>as long as someone in your group is under 10- youre good to go :D</p>
<p>I have also started a new tradition of giving away beanie babies!
It was fun & the kids really liked them- even the middle school kids-
( we don’t get hordes of kids & most of them I know)</p>
<p>Halloween is for everyone, but to me, trick or treating is for kids. I’ll give candy to older kids if they’re in costume, but I also tend to throw in a little “aren’t you a little old for this?” with the candy. </p>
<p>I especially dislike the nominal costumes–like football players wearing their jerseys. I suggest to them to make more of an effort.</p>
<p>My kids stopped at eighth grade, i think. AFter that, they ran haunted houses on our front porch to scare the real trick or treaters.</p>
<p>My daughter and her best friend went when they were 16, but that was because a friend of mine asked them to take her seven-year-old daughter out into our neighborhood. The girls dressed up in full costume and had a great time. Before that, she hadn’t been out since 8th grade.</p>
<p>I wish Halloween was on a Saturday. As a nurse in an elementary school, I am always inundated with children complaining of stomachaches the day after trick-or-treating!</p>
<p>My eighth grader is planning to go trick or treating tonight with a couple of friends. She was invited to parties but wants to walk around the neighborhood, check out what is going on. We live just a couple of blocks from a great neighborhood, it is a very social event, walking a particular area and greeting everyone. And there are some great houses near here to check out with all kinds of spooky decorations/music/the works. </p>
<p>I also have an eight year old, so the seventeen year old has volunteered to take her. I may take her myself, though, it really is an interesting night around here. And I want to get out of the house for awhile anyway. There are too many trick or treaters lately. We run out of candy pretty early (I bought about 25 bags this year). There are lots of people (all sizes) from the dicey neighborhoods a few blocks to the north of us that come over to trick or treat.</p>
<p>Speaking of immigrants, that reminds of a funny story my neighbor told me. Her family moved here from Spain when she was a little girl. Her mother spoke very little English, and friends were trying to describe trick or treat to her and how the kids would dress up and go door to door to receive treats. Well, her mom understood “dress up”, and out she and brothers and sisters went to trick or treat - in their Sunday best dress clothes.</p>
<p>I think if they want to go trick or treating as long as they are making somewhat of an effort it is fine.
I see it as poignant- for the teens, because it is really a tradition they have had since childhood, in a culture which has few across the board traditions.
we do have years- when some kids are driven around to different neighborhoods by parents- then they are SOL if I have run out by then- which I usually do-
when my kids were younger- we really just did a few houses in the neighborhood- and went to a neighborhood shopping district-
oops I didnt even get a pumpkin this year</p>
<p>better run!</p>
<p>I also wanted to add- that I think Ds college has a tradition of trick or treating in the neighborhood
( They also have a swing set on campus)
They believe in the “work- hard- play hard” philosophy :)</p>
<p>I stopped after 7th grade, and my brother stopped after 6th. Despite this, I really could care less how old trick-or-treaters are. There is no law stating that you have to stop at a set age. If some guy w/a 5 o’clock shadow and an AARP card wants to prance around in a skin-tight, superhero outfit, I have no problem w/it. And if he were to come to my house and ask me for candy, I would give it to him, no questions asked. A holiday should be able to be celebrated by everyone, otherwise it is not truly a holiday. Come on now, don’t we have more important things to worry about than how old our trick-or-treaters are (like getting the congealed egg residue off our cars)?</p>
<p>My 14-year old high school freshman is going trick-or-treating with a bunch of her friends. They’ve all been planning costumes for months and are going to be pretty elaborate. I should suggest that they escort baby brother so people won’t think it’s weird that they’re going. They’re only going to ring doorbells in the immediate neighborhood, though, so most people will likely be either relatives, friends or acquaintances, so it should be ok.</p>
<p>Older daughter is a senior this year and her school does a fun thing: the seniors all dress up and parade through the school while giving out candy to the lower classmen. They then parade to their “sibling” school for young people with Down Syndrome and they party together till about noon when they’re let out. This is a huge deal. The school photographer takes lots of pictures, people work to out-do each other, the faculty gets involved. A wonderful memory.</p>
<p>In our neighborhood there are zillions of little kids, so Halloween is thriving. There are also many “haunted houses” and these are definitely too scary for the kiddos. The teens and adults go out and about (I am a big chicken and stay home !)</p>
<p>When I was in high school, we would go out in costume and only collect gum. If there was not gum to be had, we would say “thanks anyway” and keep going. We would end up with several months supply to the dismay of our high school teachers!</p>
<p>I give candy to everyone who holds out a bag or pillowcase, no questions asked. If it is a young mother holding a toothless infant asking for candy for the baby, i give it to her. If it is a group of young men 6 feet tall, I give them candy.</p>
<p>that is a really wonderful idea zoosermom
We have a friend with fairly impactful special needs- she is 18- has the intelligence of about a 12 year old- but has the impulse control of a two year old- still can be alternately delightful and exasperating just like a two year old.
She absolutely loves Halloween-although you really have to keep an eye on her in the dark- as she doesn’t like you to walk up to the door with her- & has been known to either go inside for a visit- or sneak off with other treaters</p>
<p>I have also taken my oldest to haunted houses with friends- when they were about in middle school- I think haunted houses are a great time for that age kids- although they aren’t usually very scary - just annoying if you get someone who grabs onto your jacket and won’t let go
reminds me of one time- I was going through with D and her friends & I was a couple people back- so as not to “cramp” their style
For some reason a couple of screaming girls ( about the same age- 14) latched on to me on either side- that I had no idea of who they were
I never did really figure out if they were actually frightened ( I didn’t really think so) or if they just felt left out not having anyone else to grab onto.</p>
<p>Oh and that reminds me of what I used to do with my youngest
She didn’t like to get dressed up at all- hated teh costumes
but we would spend the night at the Pacific science centers haunted halloween party.
Pretty fun- it was after the center closed- we learned about bats and creatures and I didn’t have to worry about her because it was a closed environment.
This was the period of time when she was particulary tactilely sensitive- wearing the same clothes every day & cutting her hair off- so she didn’t have to comb it.
We were sleeping on the floor ( as was everyone) I was just a little bit away from her- as not to “breathe” on her. Close to morning- it was still dark-but she came and rolled next to me- I felt her head and her hair was all bristly- I wondered " where did she get a pair of scissors?".
When the lights came on- I saw it was a little boy- who was just about the same size and age- but boy was he surprised when he saw I wasn’t his mom!</p>
<p>One year my doorbell rang fairly late, and I opened the door to find a group of high school students standing there. I said, “Oh, big kids,” and one of them responded, “No, we’re little kids dressed as big kids!” They got their candy. ;)</p>